Publications

03 Oct 2016
News

How to Manage a Toxic Employee

Article

Chris Argyris (1923–2013)

By: Amy C. Edmondson

Chris Argyris, a pioneer in the fields of organization development, organizational learning, and action science, passed away on November 16, 2013. Argyris was born in Newark, New Jersey, on July 16, 1923, to Greek immigrant parents, and grew up in Irvington, New... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Personal Development and Career

26 Mar 2020
Research & Ideas

7 Leadership Principles for Managing in the Time of Coronavirus

an example, model behaviors that are community friendly and supportive. Compassion is extremely important at this time. We may rise to the occasion if we’re fortunate to have a good team around us, but there are many people in our View Details

Keywords: by John A. Quelch; Health

December 2022 (Revised February 2025)
Module Note

How Do You Compete and Cooperate? Understanding Strategic Interactions

By: Jorge Tamayo

This module examines how firms interact strategically, both competitively and cooperatively, as they create and capture value. Although the module focuses on strategic interactions between competitors, an organization's relationships with buyers, suppliers, and... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Cooperation; Value Creation; Business and Stakeholder Relations

24 Jan 2019
HBS Seminar

Melissa Valentine, Stanford University

24 Jul 2017
Research & Ideas

People Have an Irrational Need to Complete 'Sets' of Things

pseudo-set framing could influence gift-giving behavior during its 2016 holiday online fundraising campaign. More than 7,000 potential donors were randomly (but evenly) directed to one of three landing pages. The first page emphasized... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

August 1979 (Revised November 1996)
Background Note

Framework for Analyzing Work Groups

Presents a model for understanding the behavior and evolution of primary, stable work groups over time. Model describes contextual factors, design factors and emergent culture as determinants of group behavior and performance. In addition, describes emergent behavior,... View Details

Keywords: Analysis; Groups and Teams; Organizations

Educators

17 May 2016
First Look

May 17, 2016

2016 New York: Oxford University Press Consumers, Corporations, and Public Health: A Case-Based Approach to Sustainable Business By: John A. Quelch. Abstract—The public health footprint associated with corporate behavior has come under... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

05 Jul 2016
First Look

July 5, 2016

of press. Proponents hail them as "flat" environments that foster flexibility, engagement, productivity, and efficiency. Critics say they're naive, unrealistic experiments. We argue, using evidence from a multi-year research agenda at several mainstream View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Forthcoming
Article

The Anatomy of a Hospital System Merger: The Patient Did Not Respond Well to Treatment

By: Raffaella Sadun, Martin Gaynor, Adam Sacarny, Chad Syverson and Shruthi Venkatesh

Despite the continuing US hospital merger wave, it remains unclear how mergers change, or fail to change, hospital behavior and performance. We open the “black box” of hospital practices through a mega-merger between two for-profit chains. Benchmarking the merger's... View Details

Keywords: Performance Improvement; Mergers and Acquisitions; Health Industry

April 2014
Article

Awards Unbundled: Evidence from a Natural Field Experiment

By: Nava Ashraf, Oriana Bandiera and Scott S. Lee

Organizations often use non-monetary awards to incentivize performance. Awards may affect behavior through several mechanisms: by conferring employer recognition, by enhancing social visibility, and by facilitating social comparison. In a nationwide health worker... View Details

Keywords: Social Comparison; Awards; Optimal Expectactions; Zambia; Status and Position; Performance Expectations; Motivation and Incentives; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry; Zambia

Read Now

2011
Article

A Choice Prediction Competition for Social Preferences in Simple Extensive Form Games: An Introduction

By: Eyal Ert, Ido Erev and Alvin E. Roth

Two independent, but related, choice prediction competitions are organized that focus on behavior in simple two-person extensive form games: one focuses on predicting the choices of the first mover and the other on predicting the choices of the second mover. The... View Details

Keywords: Forecasting and Prediction; Behavior; Decision Choices and Conditions; Competition; Motivation and Incentives; Game Theory; Fairness

Read Now

24 Jun 2013
Working Paper Summaries

The Entrepreneurial Gap: How Managers Adjust Span of Accountability and Span of Control to Implement Business Strategy

Keywords: by Robert L. Simons

13 Mar 2005
Research & Ideas

Reinforcing Values: A Public Dressing Down

always done. And when an organization has had a succession of leaders, resistance to change is even stronger. A legacy of disappointment and distrust creates an environment in which employees automatically condemn the next turnaround... View Details

Keywords: by David A. Garvin & Michael A. Roberto

Silvan Baier

Silvan Baier is a doctoral student in Organizational Behavior at HBS and the Department of Sociology at Harvard University. He studies how social structures shape and are shaped by the organization, spread, and evaluation of ideas and people. In his research, he... View Details

March 2023 (Revised January 2024)
Case

Deepa Bachu (A): Design Thinking at Pensaar Design

By: Thomas Graeber, Joshua Schwartzstein and Amram Migdal

In this case, set in June 2019 in Bangalore, Karnataka, India, Deepa Bachu of Pensaar Design and her team work with client ITC Ltd. to use design thinking and behavioral experiments to improve workplace safety and strive toward the company’s zero-accident goal. The... View Details

Educators